Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-06-08 - TB F C TOWN OF ULYSSES REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING June 8 , 1993 Present : Supervisor William Hogan ; Councilpeopie Catherine S tover , Ben Curtis , Robert Weatherby ; County Board Representative James Mason ; Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun ; Town Clerk Marsha Georgia . Torn Reitz absent / attending presentation at Cornell . Others Present : Christine Springer , Karen Smith / PA , Heidi H odge / Free Press , Roger Brown / Dog - Officer Covert. Supervisor Hogan called the Regular Board Meeting of the Town of U lysses to ' order at . 7 : 30pm and led` those assemb:led '. . irr - the Pledge o f Allegiance - to the Flag of the United States of . America . : t . • . . _ Mr . Hogan entertained a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Town Board Meeting of May 11 , 1993 , moved by Mrs . Stover , seconded by Mr . Curtis and unanimously . approved . - -, r - Trumansburg . Fire Department . . N o report . Representative James Mason B udget administration committee to review physical plan for 1994 budget . Public works hit hard with weather conditions ; bad ✓ oads . - • Received letter from Ulysses on solid waste illegal dumping . When I asked - that the complaint be : put in writing didn ' t . anticipate readingtit in the - newspapers . Working on it ; will be having - a ' special - board - meeting on - the0 29th . . : • Airport construction is moving ahead . Two weeks behind due to weather . _ . t ._ _ S ales tax split was discussed . Youth . Bureau will be getting some o f it . Claims Mr . Hogan - entertained a motion to ; approve Vouchers # 169 - 19.9 ( withholding # 1781= in . the : amount - of : . $ 9 , 806 . 5 ,, moved . by Mr . . Curtis ; seconded b.y - Mrs . : Stover . . UnaniMousiy approved . S upervisor ' s -: Financial ' Report j - - - • : _ - • ; . Mr . Hogan reviewed the financial report . On budget stats , W orkmen ' s Compensation overdrawn , will have to transfer funds . Will check with bookkeeper about this item . . Will also speak to Jim Meeker about . CHIPS money , _ Hearing of Individuals and Delegations - . - None - -. - _ _ • I' � Town of Ulysses 2 Regular Town Board Meeting June 8 , 1993 OLD BUSINESS. _ • D icta Control Mr . Hogan said as mentioned at our last meeting the SPCA has been d oing a good job for us for many years . The: activity seems to h ave dropped off and we are still . paying $ 6 , 000 . per year . for dog control . Agreed to take a look at this and see if we could get the job done in a similar manner for less • cost . Asked . •Roger B rown to come tonight . to speak with us . Also spoke with ' the Town _ Clerk in the Town of Covert , their current dog . contract is - I - ' $ 2 , 600 . per year . Also had a call from Karen Smith from the SPCA w ho is also here this evening . Roger Brown stated that the . $ 2 , 64O . in Covert is the base salary. Is reimbursed through vouchers for additional expenses ; $ 50 . - 00 . month . These additional expenses include kennel fees which are about $ 40 . month ; mileage $ 30 . - $ 40 . month . Have an 800 line ; that expense is shared , so that ' s about $ 200 , year . . . Mr . Hogan asked if Mr . Brown had any idea what: - Covert paid - last year . Mr . Brown said he has cut down since last year , expense w ise and patrol wise . . -. . - Combined Towns of Ovid , Lodi and Covert has about 1200 dogs . U lysses census shows 676 dogs . Covert is the smallest ; am g etting about $ 2 , 900 . . from Ovid and Lodi .. _ . Figure would be about $ 4 , 500 . base salary for Ulysses ; _ . assuming that you would 'want a lot of contact . . . meeting with people , appearance tickets ., . etc , D on ' t think I can beat the , SPCA • .price ; - . approximate • total . could .be $ 7 , 800 . for what I ' m offering . Mr . Curtis asked what it would cost without road patrol . . . Mr . Brown indicated the price could be less without certain services . Was under the impression you wanted more .patrol : . S hort discussion ensued . Karen Smith , SPCA , explained the report . Amount of contract this year was based on prior years activity . Would like, to clear :up. this issue about patrols . The notion. . of patrols - is - a r misnomer . . . we aren ' t • contracted _ to do patrols . The contract for $ 6 , 000 . hasn ' t changed for two years and that ' s because your activity has been decreasing , thus you weren ' t even - .asked for an increase last year even though our costs are going up . We ✓ espond 100 % to the calls we receive . We don ' t - charge mileage . W e are ' going to_ get a conflict around budget time from our proposal ; we still have to keep a person on staff who is available because if you don ' t have a minimum amount of dollars you have to let the person go and it means we can ' t do the work . The overhead is still there . Karen said your numbers have dropped off ; where are the calls ? Are you issuing warrants for tickets not answered? Mrs . Georgia said that most of the tickets issued for unlicensed dogs are ✓ esponded to ; on dog complaints people may not respond and there is no recourse . Karen said we aren ' t interested in generating more calls but if there ' s a need out there ; perhaps if an article w as put in the FreePress letting people know that the SPCA is available for them . Asked if the Town minded if a letter to the e ditor was published in the FreePress . . . Mr . Hogan said go ahead . Mr . Hogan asked Mr . Brown if he could give , in writing , some ✓ evised numbers for on - call basis . Also include reminder letters and issuing tickets . Mrs . Georgia asked that dog enumeration be included , that ' s long overdue . The State mandated every year and 1 L Town t . Ulysses 3 Regular Town Board Meeting June 8 , 1993 then removed that restriction . . . they still recommend that it be done every two years . The monies that we collect can only go for dog control , none of that is suppose to go into the General Fund . According to last year ' s figures we collected about $ 1 , 000 . more than the SPCA contract . . . legally you are not suppose to use that for anything. but dogs , . Basically you aren ' t. spending any tax payer dollars for dog control , Mr . Hogan said let ' s talk about a dog . enumeration . Mrs . Georgia said for every dog we get $ 7 ,. plus 57 % of., the statutory fee , so if there are extra dogs out there it ' s more revenue , for the Town . Mr . Hogan said we will have to seriously consider a dog e numeration . Mr . Brown will also include: a price for this . Mrs . Georgia said she also has a name of someone who -came in and said she was interested in doing a dog enumeration . - . . Joint Youth Commission Representative Mr . Hogan said the next item is to appoint a representative to the Joint Youth Commission . Tom Reitz couldn ' t be with mg - - , tonight but left a letter ( distributed ) . It was determined that there , are two vacancies to be filled , both , at ° large members from the Town Mr . Hogan said we have John Rogers , has been on the board and the Chair . Also have Linda Buettner , whose letter -of- interest was ✓ ead ; won ' t - be back in the area until July . •Mr . Hogan, suggested w aiting with Ms . Buettner since she is not presently a resident . Mr . Curtis suggested that it might be a ' good opportunity to sit down with the Joint Youth Commission and talk and interview candidates and also talk about some of the concerns raised about communication with this Board . Would like to wait action on John Rogers until we meet and make both appointments at thatptime . . ! Mr . Hogan said he can understand the benefit of a joint meeting , however do we need to wait until that time to appoint John Rogers ? Mr . Curtis said he was one of the people with particular concern that this Board was not fulfilling our function ( think he w rote a letter ) in regard to the Youth Commission ' s goals and 1 g uess I would like to get some understanding from him as to where o ur differences lie -. Don ' t think working at cross purposes with t hat commission is a good idea . Mr . Hogan said think they wanted more funding than we were willing to give them . Mr . Curtis said he would like to talk to them and any appointees before making any decision . Mrs . Stover said that would be fine with her . Mr . Weatherby said there ' s no harm in waiting . Will - table appointments until we meet . Will ask Mr . Reitz to set up a joint meeting with the Joint Commission and , the Village , perhaps the fourth Wednesday - of June . Medical Supplemental Coverage Mr . Hogan said that currently we pay 50 % of the cost of BC / BS for ✓ etired employees . One of the retirees has looked into Medicare S upplement Insurance from BC / BS rather than the regular BC / BS . There is a savings ; about $ 35 . to the employee . Currently a family plan is $ 326 , per month ; individual cost $ 163 ; 05 . Medicare Supplement for family would cost $ 208 . 50 or $ 104 . 25 individual . If the employee agrees to go with that , it would be a savings for all of us . checked with BC / BS rep . and asked what w ould be lost going with the supplement ; was told they would lose the prescription coverage . Spoke with employee who brought this information forward and he said that was OK - with him . nO w x• c ' Town of Ulysses 1/ .. _ 4 Regular Town Board Meeting June 8 , 1993 Mr . Hogan said I need to get Board approval to say Yes if this employee wishes to do this . Mrs . Stover moved , seconded by Mr- . Weatherby that if retired Town o f Ulysses employees wish to go with Medicare :Supplementa '1- Insurance , they may do so if they so . choose provided the-re is no increase in cost to the Town . Mr . Hogan will also check i -f = the employees relinquish t-hei r - : o ption . to go back on -the current insurance . Hearing no further discussion - the Board voted :, = Mr . Hogan Aye Mrs . Stover Aye Mr .. .Weatherby . Aye - . . . Mr . Curtis Aye: : -. Approved . NEW BUSINESS Resolution / Town- Attorney Mr . Hogan entertained- a motion to authorize Attorney Bruce Wilson to defend the Town of Ulysses in court involving the American Legion . Mr . Curtis moved -that the Town - Board of the Town of Ulysses = authorize At=torney Bruce Wilson - to - defend the Town n Court involkringi the 'American Legion , with the provision - he be asked : to- w ork as close as possible with other interested parties to minimize the cost to the •Town . Seconded by Mr . Weatherby Mr . Hogan Aye Mrs . Stover Aye- Mr . Weatherby • Aye - Mr . Curtis Aye Approved . - REPORTS Town Clerk Mrs . Georgia reported total fees collected for May $ 1 , 426 . 00 - of w hich $ 942 . was turned over to the Supervisor . Have finished ✓ etyping the Zoning Ordinance . Waiting for maps from County Planning . Tax Collector . . . Mrs . Georgia reported $ 2 , 371 . 55 was turned Over to the Supervisor - - in penalties and second notice charges . Aid taxes have now been turned over to the County . Petty cash has also been turned over . ` Mr . Hogan mentioned that the tax account balanced to the penny . Highway Superintendent - Absent Code Enforcement Officer - Mr . Rachun reported 8 permits issued in May . Two solid fuel inspections . Had four BZA hearings , three approved-, one postponed . B oard Members - Mrs . Stover said that she liked the Town Clerk ' s report last month . Mrs . Georgia said that is the same thing that the S upervisor gets each month , can make copies for the Board . ft Town of Ulysses 5 Regular Town Board Meeting June 8 , 1993 Mr . Curtis showed a map printed group ;p that is p anted by a group , free of charge to the Town . They solicit advertising . Looks like a good idea . Mrs , Stover said that the Master Plan Committee is meeting every other week . Working on maps . Correspondence Mr . Hogan reviewed correspondence received as follows : Tompkins County Economic Advisory Board , ACC , Tompkins County Youth / requesting additional funds , Tompkins County Chamber , Empire State Report , Tompkins Community Hospital , NY / DEC , Board of Reps , DOT letter to Meeker / street lights , sample of indemnity from Village of Lansing / discussion / will look into . Mr . Hogan moved to an Executive Session to discuss salaries , seconded by Mr . Curtis . Unanimously approved the Board adjourned to Executive Session at 9 : 30pm . The Board reconvened to the Regular Board Meeting , Hearing no further business Mrs . Stover moved to adjourn , seconded by Mr . Weatherby . Unanimously approved the meeting was adjourned at 9 : 50pm . Respectfully submitted , Marsha 3 . Georgia